This has been exacerbated by the relentless march of the Chinese into the country eager to exploit its natural resources. As such large dwelling areas have been cleared for office and business development forcing already poor Angolans to displace themselves into either slums or shanties unable to afford the housing prices at places such as Nova Cidade de Kilamba (Kilamba New City) built by the China International Trust and Investment Corporation to rehouse those moved from their homes in the building program in Luanda. A house can be $10,000 a month to rent, a basic meal out for two is easily $50, a hotel room can weigh in at $400 a night and a kilo of imported tomatoes a staggering $16.

It is estimated that the 20% of the population with the highest incomes receive 59% of all incomes, whilst the poorest 20% receive only 3%. As former U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon commented, "Angola has great wealth, but it also has large gaps between rich and poor," adding, "the government should do more to strengthen the social fabric by promoting social equity and ensuring a better distribution of income. This is a matter of stability, prosperity and justice." There have been reports that much of this wealth created by the oil industry has gone missing, money that appears to have found its way into the bank accounts of the already rich, not spent on meeting the needs of those living in poverty in Angola. The government has dismissed these allegations citing poor record keeping and accounting, however, The 2019 Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index gave Angola a score of 26, ranking Angola 146th out of 180 countries, all of the countries ranked lower than Angola could be considered failed states.